Tainted White Carpet
by Wakkomonkey9258
Summary: Corvo returns to spill the blood of those who have corrupted the benevolent Halls the Empress once ruled over.


Tainted White Carpet

Corvo still had nightmares about it. Being suspended high into the air, surrounded by swirls of black tentacles as assassins crowded around the gazebo. His limbs struggled and screamed, flexing his strong muscles to try and break free to save his beloved and his daughter. He had never felt so useless in his life, so helpless. As the unmasked assassin who he now knew as Daud phased into existence onto the gazebo and ruthlessly stabbed the Empress through the abdomen, he remembered feeling a dark and ragged ripping deep inside his chest. But it wasn't enough to save Emily and she was quickly taken away from him, teleported away and gone for what seemed forever.

As he lay helpless and drained, staring into the blank eyes of the woman he loved, Corvo felt numb. No emotion, no pain. He crawled forward, and took her head in his arms to cradle it in his lap. He closed his eyes and held back tears and felt blood at his boots. The love was gone, and so was the warmth from her skin, the glow in her eyes and the softness of her hair. Everything that made her the Empress he knew was gone and replaced by coldness. Her warm, rhythmic heartbeat was dead silent.

The pounding of footsteps was coming closer, which probably should have been a sign to escape. But Corvo didn't care about revenge, all he wanted was to stay here and be with his Empress for one more second. By the Outsider it hurt so much to let her go. The sword handle smashing against his cheek bone was almost a blessing as it took away reality from him and he could forget.

"Corvo, we're here."

The former Imperial Protector's eyes snapped open and looked up from his lap at the old man he called Samuel, coming back to reality and realizing he was once again the professional Hitman and revenge seeker. Corvo the Royal Protector was gone, now it was just the masked Villain.

He looked up and saw the darkened stone of the Imperial Palace, and the massive entrance of the waterlock. He remembered this place well, but now it reeked of evil and corruption, a mockery of the benevolence that the Empress had once stood for.

Corvo pulled his sword from the floor of the boat and gripped it tightly, "I'm ready Samuel."

The old man steered the boat behind a large cluster of rocks, an odd blind spot in the design of the fortress, right in front of the water gate, "The water lock is broken right now so you'll have to find a way to get up on your own. But I'm pretty sure with that," He pointed at the mark on his left hand, "You can do it just fine."

Corvo nodded thoughtfully and strapped his pistol to his belt, meanwhile loading bullets into a pouch hanging off his belt straps. His crossbow was sheathed onto his back and his three types of arrows held strapped around his legs with his potions. Grenades hung off his belt, ready to be slickly thrown at any moment.

The last part was his mask. The cold metal and the two grey optics glared back at him icily. As soon as he put on the mask, the man known as Corvo would disappear and in his place would be a cold, nameless killer. Death was inevitable from what he was about to do, and this was the revenge that he had been thirsting for since his torture in prison. But for some reason this seemed so wrong. Putting on this mask of Death in a place where she had once lived seemed like a sin. To corrupt the stone she had walked upon with his dark and death filled footsteps felt wrong and opposite to what he believed in. But this was what was needed, he argued and he put on the mask, feeling it's cold features molding to his skin. It was so foreign and alien, like an extra limb heavily hanging off of him. His vision was constricted and the optics slightly dirty from use, but it did what it needed to and that was hide his face.

He stood up and looked down into the murky water and didn't recognize the metal face staring blankly back at him, "I'll be back Samuel. With the Regent's head hopefully."

The old man leaned back into his seat against the steering paddle and grunted, "I wouldn't doubt it Corvo, good luck."

"Luck doesn't exist," Is what he wanted to say, but instead he simply allowed himself to fall back and collapse into the water. It was icy to the touch, and immediately he could feel the water sift it's way through his robes and armor and scald his skin with icy daggers. Water leaked through the breathing holes of his mask and quickly began to overtake his face, so he held his breath and began to paddle through the water, making his way into the water lock and back into the fortress from which he had been exiled months before.

When his breath began to run out, Corvo kicked up and surfaced his head out of the water, feeling the river drain away from his helmet so he could breathe freely. There were several landings and platforms that led up the length of the water lock. Scoping out a viable path up the steep walls of the lock, Corvo brought up his hand clenched it into a tight fist. The black mark flared up with power and the assassin could see a bright circle in the shape of the mark on his hand appear where his gaze was aimed. Feeling the power build up inside of him, he unclenched his fist and suddenly he was right where the mark had been, over twenty feet away. He looked up and found another platform and quickly blinked up, then blinked again. He was halfway up the lock when he saw a platform with a door leading further into the pumping stations. A gap separated Corvo from the door.

He kneeled down, prepared to pounce. He suddenly lunged forward, taking two steps forward and jumping as far as he could across the gap before he threw his hand forward and blinked the rest of the distance to the platform. Coming to a halt, Corvo flicked his wrist and activated his dark vision, seeing what was behind the door. It was nothing but a plain storage room, meant for the workers who usually attended to the water lock. Corvo slid through the door and snuck up some stairs until he found himself at the back of the top level above the water lock. A massive building encompassed the top of the water lock, covering it up as it was patrolled by a dozen guards. Routine patrols in a constant circle that made sure to leave a minimum of blind spots for anybody to sneak past.

Corvo tapped his chin and quickly ducked inside the building, melding against a stack of crates and darkly eyeing the guards as they made their rounds. Briefly he wondered if these same guards had been around when the Empress had been alive, back when he had been framed. It didn't matter though, they hadn't helped when he was still Royal Protector and he wouldn't bother to show them mercy now. A guard strolled past and the assassin whipped around, grabbed his throat and bringing him around behind the crates with him. His sword cleaved through his back and pierced the guard's heart, killing him instantly. Corvo lowered him down slowly and out of sight and quickly made to blink to the metal ceiling support structures up above.

There was a massive sunroof in the ceiling where moonlight travelled through, and Corvo blinked through and landed on the ceiling. Creeping over the ceiling, nary making a sound, the assassin soon reached the edge of the roof and looked over what he was dealing with. The bridge that typically connected the the water lock to the stairs ways leading up to the actual palace was now covered in a metal roof and below it, where he had once played Hide and Go Seek with Emily, a Tall Boy patrolled. Even from this distance Corvo could see a massive automated tower twirling about in a constant circle in front of the palace, ready to fire incendiary arrows at any intruder. Guard houses to the right of the palace, but most likely all of the men would be on patrol right now.

The assassin would need a distraction, a way to cause chaos and keep the guards off of him as he snuck into the palace.

Corvo had served the Empress for years, and as her Royal Protector it had been his job to know every escape route in the palace should the time come where they would need to run from attackers. Due to this he also happened to know that there was a secret escape duct that led into and out of the palace walls on the right of the fortress near the barracks. If he could distract the soldiers from the barracks then he could easily get into the ducts.

Activating his dark vision, Corvo's eyes darted around and followed the guards carefully. One was walking under the steel ceiling that covered the bridge and the assassin blinked down onto the steel ceiling above the guard, waiting a moment until he walked into clear view. Corvo clenched his hand and dropped down, clamping his hand down onto the guard's shoulder.

Possessing somebody was like looking at life through binoculars. Corvo could see through the eyes of his targets, but the actual view was muddy and murky. Random thoughts trailed through the target's head that then snuck into Corvo's own thoughts, thus allowing him to read the thoughts of those he possessed as their consciousnesses were melded into one. At the same time the body of the target ruthlessly fought against Corvo's presence, sensing his foreign grip as he overrode the brain's process and forced movement against the soldier's own wishes. For the most part, Soldiers were rather weak minded so Corvo was able to last a long time inside the body of another without a huge amount of resistance. It all counted on his own endurance and how long he could concentrate and keep from being tired before being finally forced out of the body.

This soldier's wife was infected with the Plague. Corvo felt the stray thought infiltrate his own psyche and he felt a stab of guilt in his heart. This soldier had a wife infected with the Plague, and Corvo had plans to kill this man and deprive that woman of her last pillar of comfort and strength. The mental realization rocked his mind, and in that moment of weakness was almost completely forced out of the Guard's body. Reasserting a dominant, crushing control Corvo pushed the Guard's thought away and carried on.

Forcing the body to move up through the other soldiers, who were none the wiser, Corvo stumbled up the steps to the courtyard where three tall boys and a dozen soldiers patrolled. The inner courtyard near the Hagfish pits was walled off save for a small gap in the front that was further guarded off by a Wall of Light. The sparks of electricity zapped a rat trying to break through the wall, but ignored the possessed soldier as he swooned and waned his way through traffic. He stumbled behind a small supply building next to the Automated Tower where Corvo quickly freed himself and split up their consciousness once again, becoming two separate people again.

The Guard fell to his knees and opened his mouth to groan, but Corvo rushed forward and clamped his hand over his mouth. The Assassin was prepared to stick his sword through the Guard's chest and silence him, but remembered the Guard's wife and hesitated. Meanwhile the guard was coming back to his senses so Corvo finally made his choice and wrapped his arm around the soldier's neck, quietly lulling him into unconsciousness. Dragging the body close to the wall and keeping him out of site, Corvo turned his attention to the Tower only a few feet away from him.

Keeping to the shadows, Corvo deftly blinked up onto the storage building and timed it out perfectly for him to blink onto the platform attached to the Tower. Sensing an unwanted presence, the tower began to spin wildly but Corvo unnervingly ripped open the targeting box and slammed a hacking device onto the wires and electronics. The device quickly began to beep and whir loudly, chewing wires and sending sparks of electricity into the systems of the tower.

The tower let out a loud alarm that intruders were near and spun violently, sending a trio of incendiary arrows at a completely surprised Tallboy. The robotic walker's legs buckled under the intense pressure and explosives and the human pilot was thrown to the ground like a ragdoll. The guards, confused and lost, stared at the tower with wide eyes and slack jaws as fiery death rained down and desintigrated them instantly. Alarms rung and men shouted. Pistol shots rang and pinged against the steel walls of the tower and the metal monstrosity returned fire just as amply and a thousand times more effective.

Amidst the confusion Corvo blinked to the Fortress walls and pressed himself against the metal walls, feet barely fitting onto the ridge that spanned the perimeter of the castle. Slowly sidestepping along the ridge, Corvo quickly found the black duct door and squeezed his fingers into the slit between where the two doors met and jerked. The door snapped open and like a snake, he slithered through the door and into the ducts leading through the tower.

Squeezing through the ducts, the Assassin pulled open the doors at the end of the tunnels and found himself looking down into the main opening hall of the Palace. Supplies and boxes were stacked around the usually ornate Hall and above it a sparkling, swaying chandelier spun and shone with holy light reflecting off of the multitude of diamonds attached. Two Soldiers, one dressed with the colors of a General, were staring at a monitor device by the stairs. Zooming in his mask optics, Corvo could see the face of the Lord Regent through the blue and slightly static image on the screen.

"General,"The Regent exclaimed loudly, "What is going on down there?"

"According to reports, the Automated Tower we installed in front of the Fortress has malfunctioned and began firing on our guards. All power to the front courtyard has been severed to stop it from attacking, my Regent," The General replied gracefully in a clipped tone.

"This is an outrage!" The Regent roared, "We need every bit of security up and functioning to properly protect this Tower. Get all of my reserves and reinforce the front Courtyard, I have a feeling this was no accident."

"My Regent, with all due respect nothing can make it's way through the defenses we have put in place. The inside of this Palace is impervious to any attacking force."

Corvo cocked a brow at this under his mask and glanced up at the massive chandelier dangling from a single solitary chain. Deciding he could do this with a little flair, Corvo reached down to where he had his potions strapped to his legs and pulled out a small vial of blue liquid. Pierro's special Spiritual Elixir unknowingly contained magical ingredients useful to restoring magical power. Tilting up his mask a little he swallowed the potion, and Corvo could feel his magical power flare up as well as his symbol begin to glow softly.

Pulling out his crossbow, the Assassin paused as the Lord Regent continued speaking, "I will be staying in my safe house up top, General. Ensure that your Guard's are alert and aware of an intruder on the premises."

The former Royal Protector nodded and aimed his crossbow, firing an arrow straight at the Chandelier chain. The arrow flew right through the weak chain like it was butter and the Chandelier began to fall. However, just as the chain snapped Corvo whipped his magic hand forward. The symbol flared and glowed with power, and at his finger tips a massive wind coalesced and snapped forward, slamming into the chandelier and sending it flying like it were a normal projectile. The General and his fellow soldier turned around at the noise and had just enough time to shout in surprise before the huge decoration bore down on them and crushed them instantly.

Guards were immediately drawn by the sound of snapping bones and metal striking tile, and rushed to investigate. Those on the higher floors came and looked over the railings, boggled by what had just occurred.

All the while Corvo stayed hidden, still halfway inside the ducts and recalled the Regent's words. Up top meant there would be a safe house on the damn roof, so Corvo's eyes immediately began to form a route. Directly above the main Hall was the Royalty's bedroom, where the Regent was most likely to sleep under normal circumstances. Staring at the room, Corvo could sense a certain feeling that drew him to it. Frowning, he snapped his wrist and the Outsider's symbol glowed. In his hand appeared the Heart of the Outsider and from it, words sifted through his mind.

'A Rune stays within there'

Corvo tapped his chin thoughtfully, banishing away the Outsider's Heart, wondering if maybe he should do what he wanted in a certain order. Regent then Rune, or Rune then Regent? Calculating the distance, the Assassin realized that the room was to far away to reach even if he jumped and blinked his away there. Considering his one stepping stone across the gap was now on the ground covering two dead soldiers, he would have to find another way to get through.

He looked from side to side, and saw easy access to the third floor of the Fortress via just blinking up. Seeing the guards had moved on, Corvo slid out of the vents and shimmied across a ledge that circled the room. Moving across to the right side of the room, which was closer to him, the Assassin extended his hand up and blinked to the third level of the Palace. Activating his dark vision, he saw that a large majority of the Guards had left the area. Moving down the corridor and slipping into a Library study, Corvo clicked the door closed securely behind him. The room was separated from the grand halls and corridor of Dunwall Tower by a large set of glass doors on the opposite side of the room.

With his Dark Vision, Corvo could see four guards regularly patrolling the corridors of the Palace. It seemed like the chandelier had definitely helped distract the majority of the Guards, leaving the upper corridors largely unprotected. Waiting for a crack in the Patrols, Corvo lightly pressed the glass doors open and immediately blinked to a chandelier hanging nearby. To his luck, Chandeliers were hung in a convenient, alternate route above the patrols which provided Corvo with the freedom to go in any direction he chose.

If his memory of the Tower served well, stairs leading to the ceiling would be to the left side of the Palace. Looking down the corridor to his left, he saw a huge set of double doors with a single guard standing by it. Once again, Corvo felt a feeling of want pulling him toward the room and realized the Rune was also in that exact direction as well. Feeling his face stretch with one of his extremely rare, thin lipped smiles, Corvo blinked across from chandelier to chandelier until he found himself right above the guard protecting the grand double doors. Possessing the Guard, it was simple matter to get him to unlock the door and force the guard inside.

Closing the doors behind him, Corvo separated the two of them and skillfully slit the other man's throat before the guard could make a sound. Stepping over the fresh corpse and the fresh blood staining the pristine white carpet, The Assassin looked around and felt a rising rage building up in his chest.

This was her bedroom. The bedroom they had shared. Now the Regent had been dirtying it with his corruptive, filthy body, spreading his black disease to the mattress her perfect form had once been a part of. her soft, perfumed scent infused into the sheets now replaced with the stench of decay. Emboldened with pure anger, Corvo went to the fireplace where a portrait of the Regent hung and tore the picture from its frame, throwing it to the fire. Next was the safe, where he could feel the power of the rune calling out to him.

Stalking forward, even the safe seemed to quake in pure fear as every footstep of Corvo appeared to shake the room. Not even bothering to try and decode the combination, the enraged Assassin grabbed the handle and jerked. The Outsider's Symbol glowed with volcanic fury, infusing his limbs with superhuman strength which allowed him to ruthlessly tear off the safe door like it were made of paper. Inside, on top of some papers, was the rune glowing with power. Corvo grabbed it and squeezed, sucking the Outsider's energy out of the whale carving and adding it to his own. Breathing out as his thirst for the Rune was satiated and part of his anger put aside, Corvo dropped the now useless Rune and inspected what was left of the safe.

Inside was a small letter to the Assassin known as Daud, confirming the assassination of the Empress. Scowling and crumpling up the paper, he picked up the last item inside the safe. It was a recording tape.

Going over to the Regent's desk, Corvo placed the recording tape into the audio player and listened. And as the recording commenced and played and played, the Assassin's eyes got steadily narrower and his breath more intense as the truth of the plague, the death of hundreds of thousands, came to light before him.

Hiram Burrows would die tonight.

Getting onto the ceiling was very simple indeed. The roof was now slick with rain. As the rain came down in sheets, Corvo was invisible in the darkness and with his dark vision active, he could see only three soldiers patrolling the outside of the safe house. These three were crowded underneath a set of massive pillars, desperately attempting to shield themselves from the rain. Crouched down low to the ground, Corvo stayed in the shadows of the rain and the darkness, getting behind the soldiers easily and with little effort planting a spring razor down by the heels of the trio of Guards. Blinking away, he watched dispassionately as the mine exploded into a shower of razors, bisecting and dissecting the soldiers at the waist and knees, churning them to hunks of meat.

Moving on, Corvo pressed himself against the wall of the Safe house and activated Dark Vision. It was definitely lucky he had not gone through the front door, as a Tall Boy and three Officers were guarding the giant doors, patrolling around book cases as the Tall Boy stayed right in the middle of the room, unflinchingly watching the door. But that only made Corvo's job far easier.

For some reason, a window had been left propped open to the cold wind and it was almost effortless to blink up and slip inside. He stayed a little bit outside the window frame, stealthily searching inside and looking for his target. His dark vision couldn't extend across the whole room, but he could make out just the barest outline of a figure strutting around on the second floor. All alone. It was the Regent, Corvo just knew it was him. Leaning a little through the window, he saw a Wall of Light covering the only entrance into the room Hiram was cowering inside of. Ducking inside the room, his Dark Vision began to extend and reveal more of the room. Following the wires of the Wall of Light that glowed yellow to his Dark Vision, Corvo spotted where the wires met at their power source on the first floor.

Waiting for the Guards to pass, Corvo dropped into the room and smoothly moved from book case to book case getting closer to the room directly below the Regent's command room. The Tall Boy didn't notice him as he quietly ran quickly into the room, making short work of the Overseer that stood guard there, sliding his sword up through the spine and neck of magical Guard. Finding the door guarding where the wires met, Corvo slipped inside and found himself in a closet like area, where he could afford to rest and relax for a second. Prying open the metal sheath, Corvo inspected the whale oil tank and nodded, an idea forming in his head.

Breathing in deeply, Corvo grabbed another one of Pierre's elixirs and drank the blue liquid. Feeling his magic restore itself, Corvo left the closet like room and activated Dark Vision, following the Guard's patrol patterns and seeing just how he was going to pull this off. He waited and waited and waited, just searching for that right moment . . . There!

Becoming a sudden blur of motion, Corvo reopened the closet and threw in a primed grenade. After hearing the grenade clink against the stone floor, the Assassin snapped his hand and stopped time. Rushing out of the room, Corvo's strategy was abundantly clear. The three soldiers were all crossing the middle aisle between the book cases, in clear view. Drawing his upgraded pistol, Corvo aimed and fired all four bullets, each aimed perfectly for their target.

Corvo's hand clenched and time suddenly started again and a cataclysmic set of events happened at once. All three Guards screamed as bullets whipped into their skulls, killing them instantly. The Tall Boy's oil tank strapped to his back exploded violently when a bullet pierced the sensitive covering, throwing the armored Guard against a wall where he slumped down. Then the Grenade in the closet exploded, knocking out the Wall of Light.

"What in the name of the Outsider is going on down there?!" Hiram's voice crowed. The albino man rushed to the railing and Corvo could see his eyes practically burst out of their sockets, "An Assassin!"

The Regent stumbled over himself retreating as Corvo blinked up to the second floor, walking slowly and methodically after the man who had destroyed his life. Hiram's back struck his large strategy table and he must have realized he was trapped because his shaking hands immediately went for his sword. But the former Royal Protector was far to quick. He snapped forward into action, grabbing the Regent by the throat and slamming him down onto the command table, squeezing for good measure.

No words, just death.

But that wasn't enough for Corvo, he wanted Hiram Burrows to look into his black eyes before he died. Reaching up with his other hands, Corvo tore off his mask and threw it the side, revealing his face to the corrupt Regent. The unmasked Assassin could see the recognition gleaning in Hiram's eyes and his pale lips opened to say something, but Corvo only squeezed harder. He reached down and pulled out his sword, bringing it up to strike the final blow.

But it never happened. Corvo brow furrowed in confused as he realized his arm wasn't moving. Looking back he could see his wrist was encircled by a dark cloud of magic, Black Magic to be specific, holding back his arm. Looking back further, he saw a man, dressed in a simple leather apron, brown pants and brown shirt. His head was large and bulbous, his nose small and misshapen, and his neck seemed to be nonexistent. Corvo recognized him instantly from months ago in Coldridge prison.

The Torturer. With a scream that sounded more like a pig's squeal the Torturer jerked his muscular arms back and Corvo was suddenly flying, losing his grip on the Regent and soaring over the railing down to the first floor lobby. He crashed down and felt his shoulder dislocate, popping out of the socket. His sword went skittering away across the floor into the shadows. His vision was spotty and his legs wobbly from exhaustion, and his magic was exhausted. The swollen pain in his shoulder was almost overwhelming. Shaking his head vehemently, he had no time to reach for a potion as the Torturer vaulted over the railing and came running at the Assassin. He used no sword, but instead a sharpened bar of steel that glowed at the point with pure molten heat.

Despite his apparent lameness, the Torturer was quick on his feet and was on Corvo in a second. He swung the bar, but it lacked any finesse or technique, as if he were swinging with a heavy log. The unmasked Assassin ducked the blow and struck back with his boot, looking to break a knee and knock him off balance but when it connected it was like striking steel. Caught off guard, Corvo tried to regain footing but the Torturer's blade came back around and cleaved into his side. The blow knocked the former Royal Protector off his feet and sent him impacting against a book case. Corvo vaguely registered the hot blade had melted it's way through his armor and cut into the skin, no doubt leaving a deep cut and scalding burn. Breathing hurt. His shoulder bellowed.

He stumbled up, leaning himself against the book case and growled angrily.

"Yes, kill him!" He could hear Hiram squawk, "Finish him off now!

The Torturer's queerly small mouth twisted into a screwed version of a smile and charged the tired Assassin, going in for the kill. Corvo's mind calculated quickly. No magic and going hand to hand with the Torturer was pure suicide, he'd have to get unorthodox if he wanted to survive this. The misshapen man swung the bar but Corvo ducked last second, feeling the intense heat of the sharp point flying just inches over his head. His shoulder ached at the effort but nonetheless the Serkonian scrambled past the Torturer on all fours as the point of his blade clanged against the steel book case. The mutated man turned angrily to give chase after Corvo and failed to notice the cleverly placed spring razor that was right by his feet.

The mine exploded and hundreds of tiny barbed razors cut and thumped into the legs of the Torturer. He squealed loudly in pain, his pants torn to pieces and legs red with thick blood. But somehow by work of the Outsider the mine didn't kill him! He only stumbled and staggered, uncertain on his feet and eyes clouded with pain and rage. Corvo's jaw practically dropped at the man's survival and cursed the Outsider.

"Kill him Fool!" The Regent screamed, "Kill him now!"

Corvo ignored him and decided he would have to finish the fight now while the Torturer was out of the fight. Creeping back into the shadows of the Book cases, he decided it was time to finish this. He reached into a pouch hanging off of his belt and pulled an abnormally large bullet out to jam into his gun, it was a tight fit but it just barely managed to squeeze inside the chamber. Ignoring the jeers accusing him of cowardice from the Regent, Corvo took the time to swallow a magical elixir and health Elixir which helped sooth the pain and reinvigorate his magic reserves in case what he was about to do didn't work.

"Find him now you stupid oaf!" Hiram ordered, but Corvo could hear the fear in voice. He peeked out into the aisle and could see the Torturer drunkenly stumbling down the central aisle, tripping himself over the bodies of the dead and leaving a heavy blood trail behind him. Thinning his lips into a white line, Corvo leaned out and drew his pistol, aimed, and fired. The kickback from the special round was powerful and almost hand shattering, but Corvo kept control. The round managed to squeeze out of the barrel of his pistol and flew right for the Torturer.

The round hammered against the the man's chest and their was a bright flash as the bullet suddenly exploded, turning into an explosive cloud. When the blast cleared, it became obvious that the explosive round had done its job very well. Amazingly the Torturer had kept his feet, but the round had turned his chest into crater. It had successfully dug out a sizable portion of the mutant's chest, blowing away half of his torso. He stayed on his feet for another few seconds before he finally collapsed back with a gurgling moan.

"You useless buffoon," Hiram breathed, his fear becoming apparent again, "Listen Corvo, perhaps we could . . ."

But their was no time to talk, to negotiate or even to think. Corvo blinked up onto the second floor, holstered his pistol, grabbed the Regent by the throat and threw him down onto the first floor. The albino man screamed in pain as his feeble bones bruised and ached at the impact. Corvo didn't care for his pleas of mercy and begging, in fact it was kind of pleasing. The Assassin clenched his fist and the symbol glowed, and around the Regent a black pool formed, and out of this pool dozens of infected rats burst out in hordes. The former Royal Protector watched as Hiram was ruthlessly torn apart by the rats until nothing but rotten chunks remained, feeling nothing but a cold feeling of retribution. The rats scattered away from the chunks of meat that had been the Regent and Corvo breathed out lowly.

He fell back and leaned against a wall, sliding down and hiking his knees to his chest. It was over, the Regent was dead and her spirit somewhat avenged. It left a bitter taste in his mouth though, all this death and her absence from him. None of this seemed even worth it, if it didn't bring her back.

But nothing could bring her back.

Corvo realized he should get his mask and leave before somebody came to investigate but he was just so tired for the moment. Maybe he could afford a few minutes to sit down and think about her, maybe just a little bit. This whole business with the Conspiracy left little time to think anymore, only action, action, action. His hip was burning all of the sudden and Corvo withdrew his pistol. The tip of the barrel was melted and the rest burned at the touch. The explosive round obviously had it's drawback. Throwing the pistol away, the Assassin decided he could spare a few moments of rest just to think about her.

Her smile, her hair, her eyes, her pale skin, her kindness.

Just a little bit of time was all he wanted.


End file.
